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Greetings NENSA Community,
Following the winter of 2023-24, officially the warmest on record in the U.S., we take a moment this week to reflect on the impactful contributions made by a special member of our community. His involvement spans a lifetime, his contributions touch every aspect of sport, and his dedication to developing sustainable practices sets a precedent for climate resiliency. Eli Enman truly embodies the spirit, dedication, innovation, and pride of John Caldwell and it is a pleasure to recognize him as the 2024 recipient of the John Caldwell Award.
It’s an important reminder that even small steps matter; that advocacy, even if “imperfect” (see a re-post of “Can jet-setting ski racers be climate activists? Schumacher, Diggins lean into “imperfect advocacy.” below), is critical. This week, we reflect on a winter that tested us, celebrate Eli, and look to the future inspired by his example.
All my best,
Heidi
Heidi Lange
Executive Director
New England Nordic Ski Association
heidi@nensa.net
www.nensa.net
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In this week’s KickZone
- Eli Enman Receives the 2024 John Caldwell Award
- NENSA Receives New Fleet of Matched Rollerskis
- Climb to the Castle 2024 | August 11
- 2023-24 Zak/Marathon awards
- NONH/ME BKL Rollerski Clinic | August 10
- NENSA Receives Grant from the Killington World Cup Foundation
- Rollins Roll Classic Hill Climb | August 18
- Job Postings
- NENSA Fall Symposium | October 5
- Eastern Cup Schedule
- Membership
- Insurance
- Scenes from the Community
From Our Partners
- Stratton Summit Challenge
- Summer Camps
In The News
FasterSkier
- Getting to Know Fin Bailey: One of the Newest Members of the Stifel U.S. Ski Team
- Can jet-setting ski racers be climate activists? Schumacher, Diggins lean into “imperfect advocacy.”
- Skiing is Worth Saving
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NENSA News From the Field | |
Eli Enman Receives the 2024 John Caldwell Award |  | |
One of NENSA’s finest traditions is presenting the John Caldwell Award. This award annually recognizes a single individual, or entity, which embodies the spirit, dedication, innovation, and pride of John Caldwell. NENSA is thrilled to announce that Eli Enman of Sleepy Hollow Nordic Center is the recipient of the 2024 John Caldwell Award.
Eli’s passion for the sport is rooted in his childhood and local community. While growing up in St. George, VT, he began skiing with the Bill Koch Ski League. At CVU High School, Eli was a Vermont State Champion and multi-time All-American. After competing and achieving All-American status again at Middlebury College, Eli’s journey continued through professional skiing, a World Cup start, and decades of involvement in the sport. Year over year he has led his age group as a competitor including several victories at the Craftsbury Marathon. His dedication and passion for the sport extends far beyond the race course, though.
Carol Greenhouse, resident innkeeper, describes Eli’s professional contributions at Sleepy Hollow. “When Eli Enman was a student at Middlebury College, his parents purchased 880 acres in Huntington with the intention of opening an inn and asked Eli if he wanted to operate a Nordic center on the property. An All American Skier, Eli didn’t hesitate. He was helping design and build what would become Sleepy Hollow before graduation, clearing 32K worth of trails and at the same time, making a reputation for being the salt of the earth: an honest, authentic, kind guy who innovates tirelessly to prevent climate change and gives as much to as many skiers as possible. Under his leadership, Sleepy Hollow has become a second home for generations of skiers and an outdoor recreation industry leader in clean energy.”
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NENSA Receives New Fleet of Matched Rollerskis | |
NENSA's fleet of matched rollerskis just got a refresh thanks to the generosity of EnjoyWinter and Swenor Rollerskis!
With 30 pair of skate skis and 20 pairs of classic, we're ready for a full Fall of rollerski racing, starting with the Climb to the Castle THIS SUNDAY!
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Climb to the Castle 2024 | August 11 | |
17th Annual Climb to the Castle, Whiteface Mountain, NY
We're just three days out from the iconic climb up Whiteface Mountain. With a competitive field, one-of-a-kind course, and the late summer beauty of the Adirondacks, it's sure to be a climb you don't want to miss!
Registration closes Saturday. Now is the time to sign up!
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2023-24 Zak/Marathon Awards | |
We’ll start here by recognizing that there’s some irony in our most of our dedicated Master’s skiers being busy training and thinking about this upcoming winter, while we want to celebrate their accomplishments from last winter.
Thanks to uncooperative weather at the end of the winter and our own organizational transition this spring, we still need to recognize our Zak and Marathon Cup winners from 2023-24!
The list of Awardees from this year’s series are HERE. The full series standings are also accessible here. Top 3 in each age class are awarded based on a minimum participation of 3+ races!
In order to bring some recognition, we plan to do a formal recognition alongside awards at our Climb to the Castle (Sun. August 11th), and at the Rollins Roll Hill Climb (Sun. August 18th), but awardees are welcome to pick up their award at any NENSA event in the upcoming months.
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THANK YOU TO OUR GOLD SPONSORS | |
NONH/ME BKL Rollerski Clinic | THIS Saturday! | |
If you are looking for an opportunity to join us to do some rollerski agility soon, you are in luck! This Saturday, August 10th we are hosting a rollerski clinic featuring an agility course in Fryeburg, Maine. NENSA Rollerski clinics are geared towards BKL-age children and the parents, caregivers and coaches that support them. The clinic will focus on teaching the fundamentals of skiing, including stopping, turning, basic techniques, agility skills and course, and engaging games.
Shortly following the BKL/Youth Clinic, we will be running a high school clinic session. It’s a fantastic way to get ready for winter, connect with the nordic community, and have a blast mastering a new skill.
August 10, 2024
Fryeburg, ME
For skiers of all ages and abilities
The forecast is looking up, the clinic is a go! Come join the fun!
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NENSA Receives Grant from the Killington World Cup Foundation |  | |
NENSA is excited to announce that we have been awarded a Killington World Cup Foundation grant in support of our Nordic Rocks program, a low-barrier program developed to introduce a new generation of children in grades K-6 to the excitement found in the sport of cross country skiing. Our KWCF grant helped fund an opportunity last year for 6,235 children in 50 schools across the Northeast to experience skiing during the school day with teachers and classmates and to learn the health and lifestyle benefits associated with exercise and outdoor fun. NENSA’s Nordic Rocks program serves youth in lower income communities, areas with greater demographic diversity, and communities where young people might not otherwise have the opportunity to try cross country skiing. Through collaboration with local ski centers and NENSA clubs, we are creating partnerships and fostering community involvement to provide ongoing and expanded recreational programming for Nordic Rocks skiers. As a result, we have been able to introduce thousands of children to skiing in a fun, safe, and supportive environment and provide connections to and resources from our network of NENSA clubs. These partnerships are key to promoting opportunities, friendships, and more diverse communities.
Funding from KWCF this year will help us significantly expand opportunities to introduce children to the joy of skiing during the school day and beyond. We are full of gratitude for the wonderful work they do to grow our sport and our community!
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Rollins Roll Classic Hill Climb | August 18 | |
Rollins Roll Classic Hill Climb, Mt. Kearsarge, New Hampshire
A fast-growing staple of the NENSA rollerski calendar, featuring a reunion of New Hampshire skiers from across the Granite State, and farther afield too! A great day out with a fun uphill challenge too!
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Head Nordic Ski Coach
Mt. Blue High School
Farmington, Maine
Nordic Program Director and Head Coach
Sugar Bowl Ski Team & Academy
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THANK YOU TO OUR SILVER SPONSORS | |
NENSA Fall Symposium | October 5 | |
Save the Date!
Saturday October 5th at the Dublin School in Dublin, New Hampshire, NENSA's Annual Coaches, TD, and Event Organizer Symposium is back!
NENSA is again proud to produce a full Fall symposium with the goal of providing an excellent, organized structure for coaches, officials, and event organizers from across the region to engage in professional and community development together.
The schedule for this year’s coach symposium is in progress, but will likely contain similar offerings to last year’s symposia.
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Eastern Cup Schedule
2024-25
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NENSA and USSS Membership Renewals | |
Our membership year began May 1 and now is an excellent time for sign ups and renewals. Membership revenue sustains our organization, directly supports year-round offerings, and subsidizes low and no-cost programming that make our New England ski community vibrant and inclusive.
Your NENSA membership provides...
- Access to Eastern Cup, Bill Koch Festival, and U16 and Eastern High School Championship events
- Education at Eastern Coaches Conferences and TD/Event Organizer Seminars
- Eligibility for the NENSA Development and Elite Teams and the New England Junior National Team
- Discounted entry to NENSA events
- Scoring and ranking in our Eastern Cup, Popular, and Rollerski series
- NENSA Kickzone and Trail Tales youth newsletter subscriptions
- Exclusive discounts and special offers from NENSA sponsors, continually updated on the Member Benefits page
- Access to the NENSA Gear Swap
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While you're at it, US Ski and Snowboard memberships renew on Juy 1 and are required for all nationally sanctioned events including REG Camp, Eastern Cup Races, US Nationals, and Junior Nationals. PLEASE NOTE that if you did or will turn 18 between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025, you will need to complete Safesport training and a background check to maintain eligibility and points. | |
Club Liability Insurance 2024-25 | |
General Liability coverage is back and available to all clubs under the NENSA Master policy.
A Master policy aggregates coverage for the community, offers better coverage than what clubs may find individually, and saves our clubs the costs of these separate policies. It is a member benefit that we are proud to offer and that supports our community through the local savings it offers to clubs.
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U.S. Ski & Snowboard works to provide a safe environment in which athletes can train and compete, free from abuse and inappropriate behavior. Please review U.S. Ski & Snowboard's Athlete Safety policies, the SafeSport Code, and the Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies and join us in sustaining a culture of safety.
If you are an athlete who has experienced inappropriate behavior or know of an athlete who has experienced inappropriate behavior, report a concern:
The U.S. Center for SafeSport
Hotline: 833-587-7233
Report: CLICK HERE
U.S. Ski & Snowboard
Report: CLICK HERE
We all are part of promoting a culture of safety through education, listening, and speaking up.
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Scenes from the NENSA Community | |
THANK YOU TO OUR BRONZE SPONSORS | |
Join us on August 10th, 2024 for the 3rd annual Stratton Summit Challenge! The open race follows the work road from the base of the gondola to the top of Stratton Mountain, 1750 vertical feet. You can race your heart out against the best in the world OR take your time– everyone is welcome. On top you will get spectacular views and a ride back down on the gondola. There is also a kids race that goes about 1/3 of the way up and finishes at mid-mountain. If you are staying for the Q & A, bring food or grab some lunch at one of the awesome resort restaurants! | |
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NH Nordic Devo Camp
August 14-17, 2024
Join us for a training camp that covers all aspects of dryland training for nordic skiing and will prepare you to be the best skier you can be next winter. Our camp has developed a reputation for its perfect balance of hard work and fun!
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Getting to Know Fin Bailey: One of the Newest Members of the Stifel U.S. Ski Team
August 6, 2024 | by Ollie Swabey
Finnegan Bailey—a resident of Landgrove, Vermont, and team member of SMST2 and the University of Vermont—was selected this spring to become one of the newest members of the Stifel U.S. Ski Team at the staggering age of 18. So how’d he do it?
In the last twelve months, Finnegan (Fin) Bailey has received quite the accolades in the competitive nordic skiing scene. To name a few: he was named to the SMST2 club team, he won his first Super Tour race and he demolished the field at the 2024 Junior Nationals U20 sprints. So it’s no surprise that Fin was amongst the latest batch of rising athletes selected to the Stifel U.S. Ski Team. While technically it’s this last year’s performances that led to Bailey’s selection, his journey to the top level of American skiing is a lifetime in the making, and it’s been filled with highs, lows, and lessons.
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Can jet-setting ski racers be climate activists? Schumacher, Diggins lean into “imperfect advocacy.”
February 25, 2024 | by Nathaniel Herz
MINNEAPOLIS — After Gus Schumacher’s upset win at an international cross-country ski race here last week, one of his first moves was not to celebrate at a bar, but instead, to stand in front of the crowd and talk about climate change.
With hundreds listening to the panel discussion from the grandstand, Schumacher, his teammate Jessie Diggins and activist and author Bill McKibben passed a microphone back and forth.
The subject, for Schumacher, is immediate and personal: Global warming poses an existential threat to his chosen sport, and not just over the long term.
Minneapolis has had its warmest winter on record this year. Up until a storm dumped six inches of snow on the same day the international cross-country skiing circuit arrived in the city, organizers were expecting to hold the races on a ribbon of man-made snow snaking through an otherwise bare and brown golf course.
“We’re a sport that needs snow, and cold temperatures,” Schumacher said in an interview. “We can be a group of people that can make some change.”
Climate advocacy is at the center of Schumacher’s career: He’s part of a coalition of athletes and other outdoor professionals called Protect Our Winters, and wears the organization’s logo on his hat when he races. Five of his American cross-country ski teammates also work with the group, including Diggins, who’s on its board.
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Skiing is Worth Saving
May 3, 2024 | by Charlie Cobb
Months ago, I drove seven hours to Boston’s Logan Airport, boarded a plane to Minneapolis, drove 3.5 hours to Wisconsin to ski 1 hour and 19 minutes: my first American Birkebeiner. I have done a lot of ski races in my life, but the Birkie was truly unique. Like many in the American nordic ski community, I was still riding the high of seeing (through my laptop screen) both a male and a female distance podium on the same day on home snow. It felt like a true watershed moment: after so many years of striving, the US has now become one of the top nations in nordic skiing. The fact that many of these same American World Cup skiers would be sticking around to race the Birkie—on the same course that I and thousands of other citizen racers would be racing—only added to my excitement and further underscored the strength and connectedness of the American nordic ski community. Though I wasn’t at the Minneapolis World Cup, I was excited to see some World Cup skiers race the Birkie.
The 2024 Birkie was also unique because of the weather. What was typically a 55km point to point race winding through the woods had been reduced to a 10km ribbon of man-made snow winding over barren brown grass during one of the warmest, driest winters the midwest has ever seen. Despite this, people turned out in droves. I don’t know the final count of the race, but I estimate that there were over 5000 people who raced over the course of five days, and probably at least 1000 on Saturday alone.
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New England Nordic Ski Association
P.O. Box 97
Lyme, NH 03768
(802) 331-0762
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